A U.S. Senator Aiding a Contributor While Averting a "Fiscal Cliff": Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity

The law passed by Congress on January 3, 2013 to avert the across-the-board tax increases and “sequester” (i.e., across-the-board budget cuts) was “stuffed with special provisions helping specific companies and industries.” While many of the provisions would increase the U.S. Government’s debt, at least one would decrease it. Is the latter any more ethical because it is in line with the more general interest in reducing the federal debt? Put another way, does the end justify the means?  Do good consequences justify bad motives?  These are extremely difficult questions. The best I can do here is suggest how they can be approached by analysis of a particular case study.

The full essay is at "Aiding a Contributor."

Health-Care Insurance Reform: A Spectrum of Alternatives with Respect to Federalism

So not to work at cross-purposes, public policy at the federal level of a federal republic should not be at odds with federalism. Put another way, public policy enacted into law that weakens the constitutional archetecture of a governmental system undercuts  is neither prudent nor wise. Heath insurance reform provides us with a case in point. 

The full essay is at "Health Insurance Reform in a Federal System."

1. Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, "Public Option Push in Senate Comes with Escape Hatch," The New York Times, October 26, 2009.